


quab

by loupettes



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27606368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loupettes/pseuds/loupettes
Summary: She stifled a giggle, and stayed put. She could sit here, sure, and he’d probably never find her. And for a second, she considered it to be the best hiding place. But where was the fun in that?“NOW!” She screeched, making a run for the corridor.Tentoo x Rose. Fluff.
Relationships: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	quab

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue prompt: "I've missed this."

_“Downstairs, warehouse, 10 mins.”_

She looked at the text and considered how it might just save the day yet. It was one of those slow days; she’d popped into the office to pick up a data scanning device but ended up staying to help George find an antitoxin kit. But it had been a _long_ day _,_ and she still had a lot to be getting on with _._ She itched to be out running somewhere, and most likely, away from something, with the Doctor. 

She was finally, _finally_ settling into him and she was so in love. She’d spent a couple of weeks trying to figure out how he could be the Doctor and also be human… ish, but her weird little hybrid had recently been unintentionally showing her exactly how, like the way he ate his toast in the morning was just as she remembered it, and the moaning when she took ages to get ready had not changed now that he was opening allowing himself to be in love with her. He looked at her the same, he argued with her the same and he drove her bonkers exactly the same, although maybe less so now that she was watching him helplessly navigate the human ways and she felt obliged to help him remember the English word for lawnmower and that bins no longer magically clean themselves.

She didn’t expect to see him today; he was supposed to be out helping Pete negotiate with a stray Bane in Bristol. So when she received this text, her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing him, after she’d spent years trying to do just that. When she did finally get to the warehouse space, she gasped to see the TARDIS linked up to a myriad of wires. She knew he’d been growing it and she guessed it was here at Torchwood, but he’d never told her for sure - the sneaky git still had his secrets. She noticed the arrows painted on the floor pointing to the door and couldn’t help but laugh: as if he thought she wouldn’t gather that’s where he wanted her to go. This time, the sight of the TARDIS was wonderful, not like when they salvaged her from the Thames and she knew she’d be inside that ship without the Doctor. 

It took her a second to adjust to not hearing the familiar creak as she opened this new door. The ship felt unfinished, a bit like she was still sleeping. Rose had forgotten what it felt like to know this ship, know what she was thinking and how she was feeling, but she could feel her calm, almost feel her steady breathing as she rested. The fact that this was only a coral, just a snippet of the old ship reminded her of just how close she and the TARDIS used to be. The console room was completely dark, and the only way she could see the TARDIS looked exactly the same was through the light shining from the warehouse space behind her. 

Which, coincidently, disappeared. She shrieked and jumped around, now completely enveloped in darkness. And then she heard him: footsteps sprinting towards the TARDIS from outside. She ducked; she knew what this was. 

And she’d _missed this._

It had started shortly after she’d moved in long-term. She’d started it, in fact: just a simple game of hide and seek. He was having one of his quiet evenings where the time passed slower, and the pain was felt stronger. She didn’t know how to cheer up a 900-year-old alien recovering from war, and most of the time she left him to it. But he needed someone so she did the best she could: challenge him to a game of hide and seek. She was surprised to see him get so into it, and although he lost in the end, they’d spent the rest of the evening in lifted spirits and giggling every time they caught the other’s eye. 

Then he upped the stakes by challenging her to a game in the dark. And _god_ was that ship dark. He’d won that time, but only because he knew this ship a lot better than she did. And he _kept_ winning until she’d started to hoard a hand-drawn floor plan of the TARDIS in her room and study it. She would still bump into the occasional wall, but she got better. They must have played it 15 times at least, not including the three times Jack joined in. And the one time she and Jack played alone with their friend _Hypervodka_.

After he changed, he became _a lot_ more competitive. The times he would lose he’d almost instantly challenge her to a second round, but these games always knackered her out. One time, she’d even fallen asleep hiding behind one of the pillars on the second floor of the library and _boy_ did he never let her live that one down. 

_“You fell asleep when you’re so badly losing this game?!”_

_“If I fell asleep, it only means_ you _were so bad at finding me!”_

_“But overall you’re three points behind! You need to start improving, and fast. No time to sleep.”_

The last time they’d played it - of course, they didn’t _know_ it was going to be their last time - she’d learned his trick. Classic _Shining_ move: retracing his steps backwards so she’d run past him before reluctantly calling out her truce an hour later. She was calculated by the end, and she almost knew exactly the point he’d started going back over himself. When she found him it was a little different; not their usual manic laughter and retreat back to the kitchen for tea and a slice of cake, if they were lucky. That time, the last time, he’d kissed her.

So to be playing it with him once more, here, when she never thought she’d get the chance to, and they were _together_ , might be as close to a tranquility so pure she could possibly achieve. He slammed the door behind him and they were enclosed in utter, near terrifying, darkness. She couldn’t see a thing; she could only hear his breathing, louder now that he only had one heart.

“Pick up where we left off?”

She stifled a giggle, and stayed put. She could sit here, sure, and he’d probably never find her. And for a second, she considered it to be the best hiding place. But where was the fun in that?

“NOW!” she screeched, making a run for the corridor. 

She heard him scramble behind her and she couldn’t avoid helplessly boosting her location with a roar of laughter. This time, though, all bets were off. New layout for the both of them: less familiar for her since he’d been the one growing it, and less sharp eyes for him.

Her movements slowed as she blindly felt around for walls and corners. “You’ve changed the floor plan!”

“ _Course_ I’ve changed the floor plan!” he called from behind her, and _far_ behind her by the sounds of it.

Not like it made a difference; the TARDIS always moved around anyway. But always in Rose’s favour. Once her giggles had subsided and true competitive mode fully activated, she noticed the sounds of her shoes were so loud on the grating. She dared herself to stop to take them off, chucking one as far behind her as she was sure _wouldn’t_ hit him in the face and throw him off. She kept running: a few zig-zagged movements, a couple of breathers to listen intensely until she figured she’d finally shook him off. 

She dove into the nearest room she could blindly find. It was quite a large one at that, but one she didn’t remember from the other TARDIS. Or maybe there _was_ one of these. She could just about make out it was a lab if she really squinted and felt around for any distinguishable objects. Set out like the ones from school, brand new and yet somehow the tables were still cluttered. She guessed he must have been in here quite a lot, then, when helping to grow the TARDIS. She smiled at the thought of him, his shirt sleeves rolled up as he worked tirelessly to grow this ship and get back to have enough time to spend with her. 

The funny thing was, now she was seeing it for what it was: no different to the way he was before. Way back when they’d become so impossibly connected, way back to when he’d be rolling up the sleeves of his jumper instead, he’d always worked harder on the ship if it saved a little more time to spend with her. Little things she noticed now were no different than before, in those days when she was unsure about how he felt. It’s obvious now; he was so in love with her for all those years that the way he acts around her now only confirms it. Because it’s exactly the same way he acted before. 

She couldn’t help the involuntary cry that came with hearing his footsteps run towards her from behind. She scattered and he heard her, but she was so close to the door that she didn't have enough time to leap for it before he collided with her, still not used to his weakened sense of balance and crashing noisily to the floor. She lightly prodded around with her foot in an attempt to locate him and save herself from the same fate. 

“I’m counting that! That one’s mine!” he groaned.

“That one is _not_ yours! You can’t count tripping over me as finding me!” 

“Did I or did I not find you?” 

“If you get to keep this one then the time I whacked you in the face is definitely mine!” 

“You can't retroactively claim them!” 

She had to pinch her sides in an attempt to relieve the pain from laughing so much and tried to regain control over her breathing. “Alright, fine. I’ll give you this one. But only because you’re human now, and I feel sorry for you.”

“ _Part_ human,” he corrected.

“Do you want me to give you a free pass or not?” 

He grunted, and she plonked herself down to lie next to him. Judging by the sound of his groan, she’d unintentionally landed on his arm. She shuffled so that he could extract it and reach for her arm, following it down to her wrists and finding her hand, bringing it to hold atop his chest. She used to adore the feel of two hearts beating evenly underneath, but the feel of one now only reminded her that this Doctor was _hers,_ with space to fill with her own heart _._

She sighed in content. “I’ve missed this.”

“Losing yet another round of hide and seek? Yeah, me too.”

She rolled over to whack his chest with her spare hand. “If you remember, I currently hold the winning title.”

“Pfft,” he protested. “Only cos she used to help you.”

“You’re _such_ a sore loser.”

“Ha! And you’re _such_ a liar, pretending you weren’t cheating! No TARDIS here to help you today and look who won, hmm?.”

She laughed, shuffling into his side. She knew he was powerless to any form of argument when she curled into him, and to be honest, so was she. She brought her head up to lay on his chest, offering a truce between them. They spent a few moments in silence, enjoying the feel of the other; him running his fingers lightly across her arm, and she enjoying the steadying rise and fall of his chest. 

She broke the silence first. “Speaking of the TARDIS - she’s looking a bit more done. Has she got much longer?”

“I can’t imagine it’ll be that much time left.”

“It’ll be weird, seeing you flying her again.” She smiled at the memory of his brown suit, flicking switches and trying to look impressive. “I only ever hoped I would.”

He was quiet, thinking, and she knew of what. She gently nudged him.

“It’ll be exactly the same. _She’ll_ be the same, just like you’re the same. Same thoughts, same movements, same protesting of your mishandling of her.”

“No, I know,” he said quietly. “Well, actually, I don’t.”

“My God, something you’re admitting to not knowing?”

He chuckled. “I know the theory makes sense, yes, but I don’t _know_ for certain that it’s going to be that way, just like I don’t know for certain the sun’s gonna rise tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you a physicist? Or is this version of you a philosopher?”

“We’re looking at the telepathic link between a clone of a lost race and his native ship’s clone on a parallel world, I think we’re a little past _physics.”_

“It’ll be there,” she reassured. “Maybe even more so, because you didn’t steal her this time. You grew her yourself.”

“Yeah,” he thought for a moment, before squeezing her hand. “ _Yeah_ actually, maybe you’re right! I like that idea. She might even start listening to me more.”

“Now _I’m_ more certain the TARDIS will always have the upper hand on you more than I’m certain the sun will rise tomorrow.”

“Now, don’t start.’ He pointed a finger at her in warning. “I’m not having you two ganging up on me again.”

“We never used to gang up on you, we used to stick together. She missed her girlfriends and so did I.”

He murmured, which she heard beneath her ear, in disagreement but sad resignation. 

She sighed, reluctantly pulling herself up. “I have to get back upstairs. Still working, sadly.”

“Stay.” He tugged for her to come back down. 

She groaned. “Stop it, you _know_ how this’ll end if I stay.”

“Exactly my point.”

She tutted, giving his leg a playful nudge. “Never thought _I’d_ be the sexually responsible one in our relationship but I really do have to get back upstairs."

“Oh, have it your way then,” he sighed, hoisting himself up to his feet and feeling around for her arm to pull her up too. “Problem is, though, I have no bloody idea how to get out.”

"Not much has changed there, then."


End file.
